News Scan

Sex Offender Law Overturned: The Georgia Supreme Court has overturned the state law placing residential restrictions on registered sex offenders as reported by this AP story by Greg Bluestein. The decision in Mann v. Georgia Dept. of Corrections is here. Twenty-two states currently have some type of restriction on where registered sex offenders can live.

Death Penalty: A New Jersey Senator told reporters at a press conference yesterday that Democrats are trying to ram a bill abolishing the death penalty through the state legislature during the current lame duck session. The senator's request to delay the vote and allow a more careful review of the issue is reported in a story by Jeremy Peters in today's New York Times.

Illegal Immigrants in San Francisco will be entitled to receive a municipal identification card beginning next August according to this story by Javier Olvera in the San Jose Mercury News. The cards will be considered legitimate ID for city services. This adds to the city's sanctuary policy which currently prohibits city employees and police from inquiring about anyone's immigration status.

Parole for Murderers is the subject of this Sacramento Bee editorial entitled "Young lifers deserve at least a chance at parole". The article confirms the suspicion that if death penalty opponents were successful at abolishing capital punishment, they would then focus on eliminating the sentence of life without parole. A report by the University of San Francisco Center for Law and Global Justice is cited for its startling conclusion that "life without parole is an effective death sentence carried out by the state slowly over a long period of years."